In Russia, nobody is surprised by stories of corruption. Neither is there anything new about the way officials accused of bribery and embezzlement easily escape punishment. Sometimes they keep up appearances by simply switching job titles, while lecturing Russians on spiritual values, morality and patriotism.

In 1604, King Philip III of Spain suffered a burn while sleeping near the fireplace because no nobleman could be found with the authority to move his chair. That is a good example of the dangers of excessive specialization.

Murders stemming from domestic violence occur every week in Russia, as they do elsewhere in the world. Most in Russia go unnoticed by the public and unsolved by the police. But after the recent killing in Moscow of 25-year-old Yegor Shcherbakov, the authorities made extraordinary efforts to apprehend the culprit.

The government's stated purpose behind the bill to reform the Russian Academy of Sciences was to free researchers from the burden of administering property so that they could devote all of their efforts to pure scientific work.

The number of political prisoners related to the "Bolotnoye affair" underscores the scope of the authorities' crackdown on the remnants of free political expression and the constitutional right to assembly in the country.

State Duma Deputy Ilya Ponomaryov once said, "To steal one ruble, it is first necessary to spend nine inefficiently." That slogan should adorn the entrance to the Skolkovo technology park as its official motto.

I first visited Tunis four years ago. I liked its French-Arab feel, the streets that still carried such French names as Lafayette, Jaures and Pasteur, and the tram connecting the city center to the residential area that the locals proudly referred to as a "metro."

While the public's attention is focused on the 20 suspects arrested in connection with the May 6 protests, we should not forget other political prisoners who fell under the boot of the repressive regime even sooner.

All last year, the global economy teetered on the brink of a major recession. Bullish forecasts that the post-crisis global economy would rebound were forgotten amid concerns over the urgent need to contain regional economic crises and prevent them from escalating into another worldwide economic decline.

Summing up the year, analysts generally agree that the political crisis that erupted a year ago after the December State Duma elections has largely run its course. Last week, Alexei Mukhin's presented a report aptly titled "Has the Turbulence Ended?" in which he praised the authorities for not resorting to excessive force to put down the protests.

No normalization of ties between Ukraine and Russia is likely unless the region of Crimea, now under Russian control, is returned to Kiev's sovereignty, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Tuesday.

A one-time backer of President Vladimir Putin and CEO of what was once Russia's largest investor, William Browder, told CNN that Putin was one of the world's richest men thanks to hundreds of billions of dollars of stolen wealth.